Mysterious Smell in New York City

From TinWiki.org

Lower Manhattan.

On Thursday October 27th, 2005, a Mysterious smell in New York City had New Yorkers very confused. A smell in NYC is not unusual, but this was a sweet smell that had drifted through Manhattan. The smell was described as having maple qualities and some first thought there may have been an accident at a factory somewhere.

City officials have no explanation for the smell. There was no factory accident nor was there a shipping accident. Officials said there was nothing to suggest the odor was caused by anything dangerous, but it is still unknown as to what has caused the smell.

Theories of the Smell Source

One possible theory is that the odor was intentionally released onto the city as a “dry” test by terrorists who are planning a chemical attack.

Another theory is that the smell in NYC was the result in a failed test of a new process to negate bad odors. On November 29th, 2005 it was reported that Philadelphia's Monell Chemical Senses Center was expecting a patent for utilizing a unique method to reduce the smell of animal waste. The method takes advantage of a process known as "olfactory cross adaptation," which refers to the loss of sensitivity to an odor when one is constantly exposed to another odor. It may be possible that during a shipment or a testing of this new method an accident happened and the “negating odor” was released onto NYC.

Relevant Discussion Threads

• Suspicious odor in New York City
• Fighting bad odors: Possible answer to Sweet Smell in NYC.